Frost and Fire Aftermath
by Zab Jade
Summary: Flame Princess talks to Ice King about Finn.


**Frost and Fire Aftermath**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Adventure Time.

Flame Princess trudged along the border between the grasslands and the still half melted Ice Kingdom, her foil wrapped feet splashing through the occasional warm puddle. A foil dress, hat, and a pair of gloves completed her protection, though the latter was mainly to avoid melting the two plastic grocery bags she carried.

She could have flown, but it would take more energy than she wanted to expend, and was likely to startle the person she was there to meet. She could see him already, standing just inside the Ice Kingdom, his arms upraised as he made it snow.

"Okay, you can do this," she murmured to herself as she approached Ice King. "Um… hey. I-"

"Ahh!" Ice King jumped away from her, cowering behind a suddenly produced ice shield. The snow started falling on her, but hit the foil hat and steamed away harmlessly.

"I-it's okay. I'm not here to hurt you. I just wanted to give you these." She held out the two grocery bags.

"Huh?" The shield and snow dissipated as he took the bags, looking at her in confusion.

"It's prunes and liver. I ruined your groceries… and, um… your entire kingdom…." She looked down at her feet as her voice trailed off. "I can't really help you rebuild, so um… I… I should probably go."

She turned around and started back the way she had come, forcing her gaze away from the tree fort. _I never should have come here. I believed the one person I thought I could trust and ended up ruining someone's home for no reason. Replacing lost groceries is just stupid._

"Prune?"

Flame Princess stopped just in time to keep from plowing into Ice King. He was in front of her, holding a prune out near her face. "Uh, no thanks. I don't actually need to eat food."

"I hear you, sister. I shouldn't eat it either, but sometimes I just get so depressed. And then it's fat city." He lifted his robe for a moment, revealing a body that was disturbingly thin and bony before dropping the dark blue cloth.

"Er…"

"You don't have to go. You could stay, if you wanted. Maybe talk about what happened?"

Flame Princess sighed and dropped down to sit on the grass, her foil dress keeping it from igniting. She drew a flame outline of a heart in the air with her finger, letting it stay for a moment before breaking it down the middle. She sighed again and hugged her knees to her chest, resting her chin on them.

"I should have listened to my instincts, but I thought I could trust Finn. That he'd be the one person who would never lie to me or betray me. Why would he do something like that?" She looked up at Ice King as she asked the question, wondering if he could possibly have an answer. She didn't know a lot about him, but he'd supposedly been around for a long time. Maybe his extra life experience would give him insight into what had happened.

"There are some things you need to know if you wanna be in a successful relationship, honey." Ice King sat across from her and made two little snow people, one male and the other female. "The most important thing is that men are horrible jerks, especially young ones."

The male snow person threw a snowball at the female and laughed at her. Ice King squished him down before continuing. "All girls are precious princesses, and all guys are drooling morons. Except for me. I'm awesome. Anyway, Finn is male, and that makes him all stupid, and that's probably why he did what he did."

"So… you think I should forgive him for betraying my trust?" Flame Princess asked reluctantly. She didn't want to forgive him. She still felt hurt, betrayed, and confused.

"Oh, glob, no. He really blew it. If you decide that you love him anyway, then go ahead and forgive him, but make him work for it." He suddenly had a blank, faraway look. "Sometimes, someone does something so horrible and awful that it drives away the person they love. And no matter how hard they try to make things right, it just isn't enough, and you never see your princess again."

Flame Princess frowned and shifted uneasily. She wasn't good at reading non-flame people, but it seemed like there was something broken inside the man she was sitting across from, something that would shatter the rest of way if the wrong thing was done or said. The male snow person had reformed and was on his knees, crying as the snow lady walked away from him.

"Are we still talking about me and Finn?" Flame Princess asked uncertainly.

"Huh?" Ice King blinked and looked confused. "What was I…? I don't really…. Something about…. Oh, right, Finn really blew it this time, and he needs to realize that his actions have consequences. Saying sorry doesn't just magically make hurting people okay."

"So you think I should work out how I feel and if I ever even want to see his stupid face again? And if I do, I should make him work at it to regain my trust?"

"Exactly, sweetie." He gave her a very quick pat on one foil covered shoulder before getting to his feet and looking at his ruined kingdom. "Welp, time to get back to work. None of the princesses will ever love me with a home this sloppy."

"I'm really sorry about destroying everything," she said, standing up as well.

"It's not _your_ fault. Though if you want to make it up to me, be on the lookout for any penguins. Some of them haven't made it back yet."

"Okay. If I see any of them, I'll let them know it's safe to come back. Bye."

Ice King waved at her and went back to replenishing Ice Kingdom's layer of fluffy snow.

Flame Princess trudged back towards her home, reluctant to reach it. Finn had made it for her. Maybe she should just go back to her father's kingdom?

"Stupid Finn," she whispered. He was supposed to be a hero. How could a hero lie to her and use her like that? He'd betrayed her trust while the man he called a villain had tried to make her feel better. She glanced over her shoulder at Ice King. "I hope you find someone who loves you, someday."

A sudden gust of wind swirled just across the border in Ice Kingdom. _"He already has."_ The strange, disembodied voice sounded like three women speaking in unison.

"What the?" Flame Princess looked around, but didn't see anyone. "Hello? Is someone there?"

No one responded. With an uneasy shrug, she turned and started back towards her home.


End file.
